I'm Not Happy
by Red Witch
Summary: A short, sweet fic. Todd is a bit depressed and Fred tries to cheer him up.


**Disclaimer: Don't own anything…I just had this very strange idea in my mind. **

**I'm Not Happy**

Todd sat in his usual crouch position outside the Brotherhood Boarding house. It was getting late, but since there was little food around, Todd felt like there wasn't any rush to go to dinner. With a sigh he leaned against the wall and plopped down on the grass. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. A fly flew by but Todd barely paid any interest to it.

"Hey Toad, what's wrong?" 

Todd looked up and saw Fred standing over him. He looked a little concerned.

"Aw, nothin' Freddy. I'm just thinkin' y'know."

"Bout what?" Fred sat down next to him.

"Stuff, y'know," Todd shrugged.

"You can tell me," Fred told him. "Not that I'm really interested or anything. I'm just bored and could use some kind of conversation."

"Well when you put it that way," Todd gave him a slight smile. It faded. "I was just thinking about how everything's changed yet it's still the same. To put it simply, my life stinks. I mean, I just got abandoned again by the latest parental authority figure in my life. I'm living in a dump. There's no food, nothin'. Everybody in the entire town thinks they can just look down on me and dump on me…It just sometimes…y'know."

"Yeah," Fred sighed. "I hear you. It stinks. Uh, no offense."

"Oh none taken."

"Yeah but you gotta realize Toad, you ain't the only one in this situation," Fred told him. "Look at all of us. We know exactly where you're coming from. You ain't alone anymore." 

"You mean that?" Todd asked him with hopeful yellow eyes. 

"Course I do!" Fred said proudly. "Okay, so it's not much but it's better than nothing!"

"Freddy," Todd asked quietly. "You…won't leave me alone will ya? Don't get the wrong idea. I'm just…I just need some protection against the Jock brigade."

"Nah," Fred smiled. "See way I figure, I might break out on my own one day. And I'm gonna need somebody to get me stuff and do stuff for me. Help me keep track of all my admirers and things. You work pretty cheap so why not?"

"Yeah, I could be like your sidekick or somethin'!" Todd nodded happily. " Well, maybe something would happen to me and I would be rich and stuff and I'd need a bodyguard or somethin. You'd work for peanuts. And popcorn. And twelve course meals and…"

"Ahhh!" Fred gave Todd a noggie. "In your dreams!" 

Todd laughed and then got quiet. "Freddy, you think it's ever gonna get better with us?"

"Well sure," Fred shrugged. "It's gotta. You know, My grandma once told me something. She said, 'When you're down, just think of all those people who are worse off than you'."

"Worse?" Todd asked incredulously. "Who could be worse off than us?"

At that moment a figure walked out of the house wearing a suit of armor. The two boys watched as it clanked and clattered his way outside. The figure lifted his visor and smiled.

"Lance?" Todd asked in shock. "What in the world are you doing in that getup?"

"I've just figured out a way to win Kitty's heart!" He announced proudly.

"Oh I can't wait to hear this one," Todd rolled his eyes. 

Lance struck what he thought was a dramatic pose. "I will show my beloved that I am her true knight in shining armor!"

"More like her true nut in shining armor," Fred chuckled.

"I'm serious!" Lance scowled. "When I serenade her tonight, she'll go crazy."

"That's one way of putting it," Todd said.

"Now where's that horse Pietro said he'd get for me?" Lance ignored them. "Ah! There it is! Tally ho!"

"Where did he get the armor?" Fred wondered.

"I think we're better off not knowing," Todd said.

Lance was trying to get on a white horse with great difficulty. When he finally did get on, the horse began to buck like a bronco. Todd and Fred watched with some amusement as Lance desperately tried to hang on.

"Well there goes Sir Lance-not-a-lot-of-brains," Fred said.

"Whoa! Whoa! Nice horsie! Help!" Lance screamed as he was tossed around.

"You know," Todd said watching Lance trying not to get killed. "Suddenly I don't feel so bad anymore."

"Grandma was right," Fred said as he watched Lance fall from the horse and lie on the ground. "Let's get something to eat."

"Good idea," Todd followed him inside, leaving Lance behind. 

Lance lay there on the ground as the horse ran off into the distance. "Yippee yi yo kay ay…" He sang with a very dazed voice before he passed out.


End file.
